Description
"Short pasta" covers dozens of shapes: penne, fusilli, sedani, mezze maniche, macaroni, shells, calamarata. It is not just about looks: each shape holds the sauce in its own way.
Ridged and hollow shapes hold creamy sauces and vegetable ragù well; fusilli catch pestos and chunky sauces; mezze maniche and sedani are perfect for pasta salads. In thrifty Italian cooking there was also "pasta mista", made with leftover bits of different shapes: excellent for pasta with potatoes or chickpeas.
Choose bronze-die pasta, rough to the touch: the sauce clings to it better.
Ridged and hollow shapes hold creamy sauces and vegetable ragù well; fusilli catch pestos and chunky sauces; mezze maniche and sedani are perfect for pasta salads. In thrifty Italian cooking there was also "pasta mista", made with leftover bits of different shapes: excellent for pasta with potatoes or chickpeas.
Choose bronze-die pasta, rough to the touch: the sauce clings to it better.
